The researchers have even gone so far as to say that the mere presence of the phone, even when not in use, can damage your relationships.

Relationships on Female First

Relationships on Female First

Two studies show that when a phone is present during a conversation, a person will feel less positive towards the person who has displayed the phone.

The research, which was carried out at Essex University, suggested that fiddling with your phone or even leaving it in view can be a social no-no when during a romantic meal or a dinner with friends.

Psychologist and lead researcher, Andrew Przybylski, believes that by having a phone visible it automatically triggers thoughts about the wider social network and takes away empathy and understanding from face-to-face conversations.

Andrew Przybylski says, “In both studies we found evidence mobiles can have negative effects on closeness, connection, and conversation quality.

“The presence of a mobile phone may orient individuals to thinking of other people and events outside their immediate social context.

“In doing so, they divert attention away from a presently occurring interpersonal experience to focus on a multitude of other concerns and interests.”

One study saw 37 strangers talk for 10 minutes about the most exciting thing to have happened to them in the last month.

For half of them a mobile was placed on a nearby table and after the participants had answered some basic psychological questions it was found that having a mobile phone nearby made participants significantly less positive about the person they had just met.

The second study saw a meaningful conversation take place in which 34 strangers had to talk about something meaningful from the past year. Once again, half had a mobile phone present and half had a notebook present.

Those who had the notebook present felt much closer to their partner than those who had a mobile phone present during the conversation.

The researchers wrote in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, “These results demonstrate that the presence of mobile phones can interfere with human relationships, an effect that is most clear when individuals are discussing personally meaningful topics.”